Addressing a press conference here, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said Union Minister Kiren Rijiju will organise the all-party meeting on July 21 when the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins. The meeting is again planned as per the above schedule at 11 AM in the Main Committee Room of Parliament House Annexe New Delhi. This meeting seeks to establish the business of the next session as well as to synchronize actions in parliament.
The Monsoon Session beginning the next day will have importance as that is the first normal session of the Parliament after the general elections held in the year. The BJP again emerged victorious and came to power for the third time in a raw but failed to achieve absolute majority so it has to form the government with the support of other parties. There is an upcoming full session for the appointing authorities; also, a brief special session had run from June 24 to July 3 prior to this session.
One of the serious business during the Monsoon Session will be the laying of full Budget by the BJP led NDA government on July 22. This is their first full Budget of the third term after the interim budget presented on February 1.
Especially here, it is relevant to underline the fact that Rahul Gandhi is also expected to attend the all-party meeting as a newly declared Leader of Opposition in the Lower House for the Congress party. Should he be present, it will be the first time to sit in a gathering of such in his new position.
However, there will not be presence of all the interested parties. The Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress pulled out stating ‘Martyrs’ Day is observed in West Bengal on July 21. This day is observed in honour of thirteen TMC members who met their untimely death in the celluloid of Bengal in the year 1993. Parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha is Derek O’Brien and he passed this decision in a letter to Minister Rijiju. He explained that all members of parliament of TMC would be in West Bengal to offer salute to the martyrs and hence ruling out their presence in the all party meet.
The session itself is expected to last several weeks and will likely end around August 12, if considering the progress of the government’s activities, as well as parliamentary debates.
Thus, the next parliamentary Monsoon Session coupled with the all-party meeting led by Minister Rijiju raises expectations for dramatic legislative sessions and the pass of a long-discussed, comprehensive Budget. Most parties will be represented to discuss the parliamentary business and plans, but due to ‘Martyrs’ Day’ TMC is conspicuous by its absence, showing how the regional and historical ingrained motivations differ and shape politics in the Indian parliamentary democracy.
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